Geography Sample Files

Geography notes fully revised & updated by 2019

The fully revised and updated edition of Geography for GS is planned to be released by Jan 2019.

Users that purchase the Geography notes today will get the upcoming updated version at no extra cost.

Short notes for quick revision.

From 2019 we will be posting a short version of each notes.

The short notes will be helpful for quick revision before the exam.

We are also planning to give related current affairs on a monthly or bi-weekly basis as value addition if we can get enough subscribers.

Geography Contents

Geomorphology

Earth’s Interior – Earthquake Waves – Shadow Zone

Earth’s Layers – Earth’s Composition

Earth Movements – Endogenetic Movements

Weathering – Exogenetic Earth Movements

Continental Drift Theory – Tectonics

See Floor Spreading – Paleomagnetism

Plate Tectonics – Indian Plate Movement

Ocean – Ocean Convergence

Continent – Ocean Convergence

Continent – Continent Convergence

Types of Mountains – Classification of Mountains

Fold Mountains – Block Mountains

Himalayas – Andes – Rockies – Urals – Drakensberg

Divergent Boundary – African Rift System

Volcanism – Andesitic, Basaltic – Geyser, Spring

Volcanic Landforms – Extrusive, Intrusive

Volcanism Types Based on Out Flow of Lava

Hotspot Volcanism – Hawaiian, Reunion Hotspot

Earthquakes – Seismic Waves

Tsunami – 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Rocks – Igneous – Sedimentary – Metamorphic

Fluvial Erosional Landforms – River Valley

Fluvial Depositional Landforms – Delta Types

Glacial Landforms – Erosional and Depositional

Marine Landforms – Coastlines

Arid Landforms – Wind Eroded – Water Eroded

Karst Landforms – Stalactite, Stalagmite

Lake – Classification of Lakes

Important Lakes on Earth – Facts About Lakes

Plateaus Types – Major Plateaus of The World

Climatology and Climatic Regions

Latitudes and Longitudes – Standard Time

Rotation and Revolution of Earth

Atmosphere – Role, Structure, Composition

Temperature Distribution on Earth – Heat Budget

Adiabatic Lapse Rate – Latent Heat of Condensation

Pressure Belts and Wind Systems

Wind Movement – Coriolis Force

Winds – Permanent, Secondary, Local Winds

Temperature Inversion – Types – Effects on Weather

Jet Streams – Geostrophic Wind

Subtropical Jet Stream – Polar Jet Stream

Air Mass – Air Masses Classification

Fronts – Types of Fronts – Occluded Front

Humidity – Relative Humidity – Dew point

Condensation – Forms of Condensation – Clouds

Photochemical smog – Sulfurous smog

Types of Precipitation and Rainfall

Thunderstorm – Thunder Lightning – Tornado

Tropical Cyclones – Favorable Conditions, Formation

Storm Surge – Cyclones in the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal

Temperate Cyclones – Mid Latitude Cyclone

Tropical Cyclones vs. Temperate Cyclones

El Nino – ENSO – La Nina – El Nino Modoki – IOD

Polar Vortex – Ozone Hole – Ozone Depletion

Rainforest Climate – Tropical Evergreen Climate

Monsoon Climate – Monsoon Forests

Savanna Climate – Tropical Wet Dry Climate

Desert Climate – Hot Deserts, Mid-Latitude Deserts

Steppe Climate – Temperate Grassland Climate

Mediterranean Climate – Western Margin Climate

China Type Climate – Gulf Type, Natal Type

British Type Climate – European Maritime Climate

Taiga Climate – Coniferous forests – Lumbering

Laurentian Climate | Fishing off Newfoundland, Japan

Tundra Climate – Polar Climate – Arctic Climate

Oceanography

Ocean Relief – Major Ocean Relief Features

Marginal Seas – Bay, Gulf, Strait, Isthmus

Pacific Ocean – Atlantic Ocean – Indian Ocean

Ocean currents – Factors responsible – Effects

Pacific Ocean Currents – Phytoplankton

Atlantic Ocean Currents – Sargasso Sea

Indian Ocean Currents – Effect of Monsoons

Temperature Distribution of Oceans

Ocean Salinity – Vertical, Horizontal Distribution

Tides | Spring Tide, Neap Tide | Tidal Bore

Coral Reef – Fringing Reef | Barrier Reef | Atoll

Coral Bleaching | Zooxanthellae

Indian Geography

Geography Notes PDF – UPSC IAS Civil Services Exam

India – Geographical Extent, Frontiers

Indian Rock System

Himalayas – Himalayan Ranges

Himalayas – Regional Divisions

Himalayas – Glaciers, Valleys, Snowline

Mountain Passes – India & Himalayas

Indo – Gangetic – Brahmaputra Plain

Divisions of Indo – Gangetic – Brahmaputra Plains

Peninsular Plateau – Deccan Plateau

Aravalis-Vindhyas-Satpuras-Western & Eastern Ghats

Coastline of India – Coastal Plains of India

Indian Islands – Andaman-Nicobar-Lakshadweep-New Moore

Drainage Patterns – Discordant-Concordant

Drainage Systems of India

Indus River System – Jhelum-Chenab-Ravi-Beas-Satluj

Ganga – Brahmaputra River System

Peninsular River System vs. Himalayan River System

Godavari – Krishna – Mahanadi

Cauvery – Pennar – Subarnarekha – Ponnaiyar – Vaigai

Narmada – Tapti – Sabarmati – Mahi – Luni – Ghaggar

Indian Monsoons – ITCZ – Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone

Indian Monsoon Mechanism – Jet Stream Theory

Indian Monsoons – Easterly Jet, Tibet, Somali Jet

Indian Monsoons – South West, North East Monsoons

Western Disturbances – Cloudburst

Indian Climate – Climate of India

Winter Season – Summer Season – Indian Climate

South West Monsoon Season

Retreating Monsoon – North East Monsoon

Climatic Regions of India – Stamp’s, Koeppen’s

Forests – Natural Vegetation of India

Soil Profile – Soil Horizon – Soil Types

Soil formation in Indian Conditions

Alluvial Soils – Black Soils – Soil Types

Red Soils – Lateritic Soils – Alkaline Soils

Soil Degradation -Soil Erosion – Desertification

Soil Conservation – Various Methods

Economic Geography

Iron Ore Distribution across the World

Iron Ore Distribution in India

Coal – Formation of Coal – Types of Coal

Coal in India – Gondwana Coal – Tertiary Coal

Distribution of Coal across the World

Petroleum and Mineral Oil in India

Petroleum and Mineral Oil – World distribution

Natural Gas Distribution – World, India

Shale Gas | Coalbed Methane

Manganese ore Distribution – India, World

Gold | Silver Distribution – India & World

Copper | Nickel | Chromite Distribution

Bauxite | Lead & Zinc | Tungsten | Pyrites

Nuclear Fission | Nuclear Reactor Types

Uranium | Thorium – Distribution

India’s Three-Stage Nuclear Power Programme

Diamond | Graphite – Distribution India, World

Mica | Limestone | Non-Metallic Minerals in India

How to approach this notes?

You must first analyse the previous years’ prelims and mains papers to understand the pattern and nature of questions asked from Geography.

Use DOC file to make short notes for quick revision for both Prelims and Mains. This way you can save a lot of time.

UPSC is changing the nature of the questions from year to year. There is no fixed rule. Future question papers can have predominantly Static or Dynamic knowledge-based questions or a mix of both. Don’t take chances, cover both.

You must also focus on Environment related concepts like pollution, climate change, etc. from my Environment notes.

Are this notes useful for Geography Optional?

Yes, it can be quite useful for creating a good base for Geography Optional. Basics are the key to quickly grasp Physical Geography concepts.

What others are saying

5 out of 5

Geography

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–August 7, 2017

Thanks Vinoth 🙂

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5 out of 5 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

The ONLY good source for Geography

Karthik (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

I am being honest here. Many people suggested numerous sources for Geography – NCERT, few other standard books. But, as someone self-preparing, I could never understand geography from these sources. They are either too superficial or incomplete. I could not understand the concepts deeply.

It’s when I came across PMF Geography videos. Concepts are explained from basics in these videos, without leaving any stone unturned. After videos, I was worried about how to get notes of these videos.

It’s when I found PMF Geography notes. PMF has done a superb job with notes too. They are super awesome. It saved me the pain of notes making also. Now, this is my only source for Geography preparation.

For anyone looking to understand geography or facing troubles with it, I say with no hesitation that they should drop every other book and go for PMF.

Finally, I know that people are sharing these PDFs in groups. But, I strongly urge you to buy it for two reasons. One, they are super cheap. Just Rs.100+. Two, PMF has taken enormous pains to make both the videos and notes. I think that paying for these notes is a way of showing our small token of gratitude.

BTW, PMF’s environment and S&T notes are also awesome.

Thank you PMF. You have done a wonderful job. You are truly a Poor Man’s Friend.

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

Thank you so much for your comprehensive review. You have left no stone upturned when it comes to expressing your affection towards Pmfias.com. Pmfias.com appreciates your love and concern. Thank you from the bottom of my heart 🙂 Good luck!

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One person found this helpful

5 out of 5

Excellent

Anurag (verified owner)–August 7, 2017

One stop solution for Geography,breaking the myths of NCERTs.
Looking forward for the same, in Geography Optional.

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–August 7, 2017

Thanks Old Friend 🙂

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5 out of 5 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

Very useful covering all aspects of syllabus

Parikshit Zade (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

Hi This is Dr Parikshit AIR -280 CSE 2016. I found PMF IAS geography notes very useful covering all aspects of syllabus in much details with colourful images and diagrams..Thanks PMFIAS for wonderful notes

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One person found this helpful

PMF IAS (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

Firstly, hearty congratulations for making it to civil services Parikshit Bro. People like you are the guiding light for aspirants like us.
Secondly, thanks for making time to write a review of our Geography notes. It feels very happy to know that Pmfias.com was of help in your preparation.
All the best for your future as a bureaucrat. Keep conquering new heights. Good luck!

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One person found this helpful

5 out of 5

Fantastic

Sukant Ranjan (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

Topucs were fantastically covered… But some more topics might be included….

5 out of 5

Brilliant

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

Thank you for your review Pradeep. Yes the notes is helpful for optional too. But you need a lot more for Optional.
I might come up with Geography Optional notes as well in future. Stay subscribed to Pmfias.com. Good luck!

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5 out of 5

Beautiful

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

Thank you for your short sweet review 🙂

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4 out of 5

The notes are awesome

Rusha Mitra (verified owner)–April 16, 2017

The geography notes are not downloading. Both the PDF 40 MB and the
DOC file 63 MB are not downloading. Please give another link. I am
very impressed by your notes. But now, I am feeling very
dissappointed. Please help. I need it urgently.

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–February 22, 2017

Satyendra Kumar, Thank you so much for your encouraging review. We appreciate your support. All the best!

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5 out of 5 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

The best comprehensive eBook for upsc geography

Sanasivaieth Swarna (verified owner)–February 24, 2017

The best comprehensive eBook for upsc geography. it is nt easy to find material for geography which is in accordance with UPSC syllabus and being a technical subject I felt many times it is difficult grasp some topics like tectonics , oceanography and climatology. but after i read pmfias books and watch their video the toughest subject become easier and interesting. Now i feel it as a beautiful subject to learn with interest. from basic to the depth the lessons are made as easy to understand and with best standard.
salute to the hard work
Thank you

Huge volumes of information at such dirt-cheap prices

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–May 6, 2017

Thank you so much Diganta for your review. All the best!

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One person found this helpful

4 out of 5

The notes are very informative and helpful

Sheena (verified owner)–April 21, 2017

The notes are very informative and helpful. You’ve put in a lot of hardwork and its commendable. Can you please confirm whether the data given in the major crops pdf is verified with the recent statistics or not? Highest producer of groundnut is Gujarat or Andhra Pradesh?

5 out of 5

Very useful

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–April 30, 2017

Thank you so much for your valuable feedback.

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5 out of 5 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

All portions are covered comprehensively

Praveen (verified owner)–February 10, 2017

Before coming across PMFIAS i had read NCERTs thoroughly but had not read GC leong properly. I really had no idea if i was preparing in the right direction. Most of the blogs give a general idea about how to prepare geography providing a mishmash of books etc. But here all the books were clearly analysed stating pros and cons [ i came to know that spectrum geography book is good from here oly :)].Reading the strategy i knew i still had a huge portion to cover.
Coming to the notes it is brilliant. All portions are covered comprehensively. I found difficulty in some areas like ocean currents and jet streams but i could clear it with some internet reference. But this is a very good compliation for gs mains cum prelims.

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–February 11, 2017

Thank you so much for your comprehensive feedback. In the next revision I will make sure that complex concepts are made much more simpler. All the best!

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3 out of 3 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

Best online material available in the market

Sudip Patra (verified owner)–August 26, 2017

Exhaustive detailed coverage of GS geography syllabus and one stop solution for the chapters provided.But some of the chapters in Indian geography like transport,Industries etc and some coverage about world geography is missing.It may be best if the chapters are integrated with UPSC prelims questions and GS questions.

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

Thank you so much for your review Sanjana. All the best 🙂

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5 out of 5 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

Comprehensive, exhaustive and extremely relevant

Abhilash Baranwal (verified owner)–September 20, 2017

Hi all,
I stumbled across PMFIAS through Google and since then it has become my goto website for any geography related search. Not only it’s coverage is vast and exhaustive, but the explanations are simply fantastic. Even the most complicated of the concepts in Climatology are explained really well. And the best part is ofcourse the associated diagrams. I highly recommend PMF IAS. Take some time to go through the excellent videos on its youtube channel as well.
PS: I have not gone through the entire notes. Because I had already prepared them through NCERT. But whatever concepts I had to search for additionally, it was present in PMF notes and I was more than satisfied.
AIR-272, CSE 2016

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–September 20, 2017

We are very happy to know that you have made it into Civil Services Abhilash. Heartly congragulations on your success and we wish you all the very best for your future endavors 🙂
We appreciate you for making time to review our Geography notes. We are very pleased to hear that Pmfias.com was helpful in you geography learning. Thanks!

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3 out of 3 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

Comprehensive and nicely formatted

Devesh (verified owner)–August 26, 2017

This will be one stop solution for both prelims and GS-1 Geography section. Easy language with bold texts in eye-catching fonts and colours. Very helpful diagrams that will add value to your mains answers, the point format will help you in quick lookup as well as revision. No other source material needed, even NCERT will be redundant (though keep an eye for boxed items in NCERT books for prelims). I can see how much effort must have gone in editing and compiling this material, buy it to support the team and more importantly, to help enrich your answers.

5 out of 5

Upto point

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–September 20, 2017

Thanks you for your review Dev. Good luck 🙂

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4 out of 4 people found this helpful

4 out of 5

One stop solution for Geography

Avinash –August 26, 2017

It was an accident that I stumbled upon PMF notes and according to me, it was turning point in my Geography preparation. During my preparation, I relied on only the ncerts and the problem with NCERT’s is that they sometimes skip some basic fundamentals especially in the 11th Indian Geo and Fundamental Geo. It’s assumed that the student has already prepared these so sometimes we can get naturally confused. This is where PMF notes steps in and fills that gap. It’s lucid and explained the concepts really well so any novice can easily follow.

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–September 20, 2017

Thank you for your review Bharath. Good luck 🙂

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5 out of 5 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

Incomparable source for geography

Rushikesh Kodgi (verified owner)–September 20, 2017

Hi. This is Rushikesh, AIR 555, CSE 2014.
When it comes to geography, there is no source in market which can cover it thoroughly as this one. All sources including NCERT are half baked, limited and unclear with many explanations.
These notes are excellent material for anyone who wants to get hold over this subject. It has way too many diagrams, figures and maps for explaining concepts and phenomenons. Its in lucid and understandable language. I always struggled with geography till i got hold over this material.
After studying this, i suggested many of my friends to buy this online. Its simply because, the cost is not at all prohibitive, rather a student friendly. Secondly once you understand the amount of efforts put in creating this masterpiece, you yourself will appreciate the value of buying this one.
Thirdly, notes are frequently updated according to current trends.
It is indeed one stop solution for prelims and mains. You can certainly ignore all other material, including NCERT if you study this one.
Best Wishes.

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–September 20, 2017

Heartly congragulations for making it into Civil Services Rushikesh. And thanks for suggesting Pmfias to your friends. We appreciate that ?
Thank for making time to review our Geography notes. Your review is invaulable to us.
Keep going. Good luck 🙂

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2 out of 2 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

One Stop Solution for Geography and Environment notes for UPSCC

Kedar Kulkarni (verified owner)–August 26, 2017

Your notes make geography and environment topics a delight to read with point wise presentation of content and colorful 3D diagrams with aid quick understanding of concepts. Accurate, precise, comprehensive and a complete package for UPSC geography and environment. Thanks a lot and Hats off to your efforts brother and keep it up.!! 🙂

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–August 26, 2017

Thank you for your review Kedar Kulkarni. We appreciate your support. Good luck!

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4 out of 4 people found this helpful

5 out of 5

No substitute for the marvell

Aditya gk (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

Very lucid, very simple covers entire geography GS nothing else to buy or read the notes are awesomely prepared.
I request pmfias if possible please prepare notes for the rest for the optional(human geography etc.)

5 out of 5

Complete notes

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PMF IAS (verified owner)–August 25, 2017

I was totally exhausted and couldn’t verify every fact in Economic Geography. It won’t be repeated again. In the next revision I will cross check facts from multiple sources.
I appreciate your honest review. Thanks.

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